The Shanghai Financial District as seen from the Oriental Pearl. Photo: Sjekster

“When I was growing up, I was told a story that explained all I ever needed to know about humanity. It went like this,” says Eric X. Li in today’s provocative talk, given at TEDGlobal 2013. “All human societies develop in a linear progression, beginning with primitive society, than slave society, than feudalism, capitalism, socialism and finally — guess where we end up? — communism.”

Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems
Li, who grew up in Shanghai at the height of the Cultural Revolution, soured on this narrative when the Soviet Union fell. He packed up to study at Berkeley in the United States, where he absorbed the American narrative of how societies develop — always moving toward democracy in which citizens vote.

Now a venture capitalist based in Shanghai, Li questions the nature of the American story as much as he questioned the Chinese version. Those living under democracy, says Li, make the assumption that a one-party system concentrates power in the hands of a few and leaves no room for change. And yet, Li points out that in a span of 30 years, China went from one of the poorest countries in the world to the globe’s second largest economy, with a greatly expanded middle class. He looks at the unprecedented range of policies carried out by the Chinese Communist Party over the past 64 years and at its human resources engine, in which, ideally, those with the best academic and leadership records rise to the top leadership roles. He also points out that, in surveys, Chinese citizens report feeling very optimistic about the future of their country — which can’t be said about the United States and other democracies, where a cycle of “elect and regret” has developed. (See a TED Blog look at stats on government distrust.)

To hear more perspective-shifting insights into China’s political system, watch this talk — which Li says isn’t meant as a takedown to democracy but to help break through the stories that imply there is a right way to govern. “Metanarratives that make universal claims failed us in the 20th century and are failing us in the 21st,” says Li. “Let’s stop telling our children there is only one way.”

With China’s economic and social rise over the past few decades, it’s only natural that many TED speakers have offered insights to help increase understanding. Below, seven fascinating talks about China.

Leslie T. Chang: The voices of China's workers
Leslie T. Chang: The voices of China’s workers
In the West, people feel concern and even pity for the factory workers in China who labor in harsh conditions to bring them the products they value. But this sense of pity, says Leslie Chang, eliminates the voice of the workers themselves. In this talk from TEDGlobal 2012, Chang shares what she learned spending time with female factory workers in China, including their own perspective on their future.

Joseph Nye: Global power shifts
Joseph Nye on global power shifts
The former U.S. assistant secretary of defense and dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Joseph Nye discusses the big picture of global power shifts between China and the U.S. at TEDGlobal 2010. He looks at how subtle shifts between these two superpowers affects the rest of the world.

Liu Bolin: The invisible man
Liu Bolin: The invisible man
Chinese artist Liu Bolin renders himself invisible against a background — with social purpose. In some images, he disappears into a grocery store shelf, in others he paints a group of laid-off factory workers into the wall of the building where they use to work. Bolin’s work gives subtle, beautiful commentary of the changing economy of his nation and the increasingly global nature of our world.

Born in Shanghai in 1968, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, Eric X. Li grew up hearing a story: All human societies develop in linear progression, beginning with primitive society, moving through capitalism to socialism and, finally, Communism. Sooner or later, all of humanity, regardless of creed or culture, will reach that final stage […]

By Yasheng Huang Earlier this year, economist Yasheng Huang (watch his 2011 TED Talk) sparred with Eric X. Li in the pages of Foreign Affairs on a similar topic to today’s TED Talk. The TED Blog asked Huang to expand on his argument in his ongoing conversation with Li. Imagine confusing the following two statements from […]